Behind the scenes at Universal's Skull Island

Dewayne Bevil takes a look at what he calls the "residents of the queue" on Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Universal Studios. Some have mentioned that the line is scarier than the ride. Executive producer Mike West describes the layered, pulsating design of the queue.

Dewayne Bevil takes a look at what he calls the "residents of the queue" on Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Universal Studios. Some have mentioned that the line is scarier than the ride. Executive producer Mike West describes the layered, pulsating design of the queue.

In the days before the soft-opening phase of Islands of Adventure's Skull Island: Reign of Kong, visitors might have spotted executive producer Mike West out chatting with ride hopefuls. Now the attraction is open to the public, and we had a few questions. Here are West's thoughts on those King Kong-sized vehicles, sneak peeks, animatronics and how those are not bats at the beginning.

On the circle-drive tease while waiting:

"First of all, you see the scale of the truck, especially when you're down, kind of below where it's riding, it looks even more massive. Then you see these big doors open up, and you see it kind of disappear and you maybe get a little view on what's inside there with the flames and the skeleton, but then it all shuts behind it, and now you're kind of going 'What's inside of that?'"

On what the shawoman in the queue is trying to tell us:

"You get a sense that maybe she doesn't want you there. And obviously, it all turns out to be about Kong. You hear her say Kong several times and, of course, you hear his roar and the natives chanting 'Kong, Kong.' … Her lines throughout that are warning you about certain things: that you shouldn't be here, that this is a sacred temple, that you are violating the sacred grounds of her ancestors. There are definitive translations for each and every line that she delivers. I wanted to make sure that, as we were programming the figure, that we knew what she was supposed to be doing and moving and reacting and with her eyes. … If it's just a bunch of gibberish, you don't know why she's doing what she's doing."

Photos of the King Kong ride set for Universal's Islands of Adventure, opening summer 2016.

(Dewayne Bevil, Matt Mauney)

On where you might have seen her before:

"She did appear in the 2005 Peter Jackson film. It was a bit of a tip of the hat to that. We saw her a few times [in 'King Kong'] when they first arrive on the island. … When the sacrifice is taking place, when Ann is out strapped to the altar out there and Kong comes and grabs her, she's the one that's doing the lead chanting and building the natives into a frenzy, as she does in our attraction."

On those things that are definitely not bats:

"They're actually terapusmordax. … It references a lot of the creatures that we had came out of that [Peter Jackson] world. Like the carnictis … the creepy crawly and the abyss and some other things came out of the same world."

"We're getting great feedback on that, in the sense that they've become a lost art. You can watch a 3-D video now in your home. But you can't get a 26-foot Kong in your home. … I really wanted the experience to pay off with Kong. Let's face it, that's why guests come to this attraction — to see him. I wanted to make sure that the climax of the entire experience was with you really right up in Kong's face."

On the trackless ride system:

"It was challenging, but it was massively important. … We worked so hard to create this ambiance, this feeling, this layering, this surprise, this reveal. … So when you got up to the expedition camp to board the trucks, we didn't want to blow it all by saying 'Oh, look, there's a railing in front. Oh, I get it — we're on a theme-park ride."

On where to sit:

"At first, I thought guests on the right side, when you come into the scene with Kong, it's going to be a better scene because you're on the right side and up close. But I actually prefer it on the left side of the truck. It frames him just within that window that you have. … On the right side you can see everything — the set and the rocks around him. It's cool because you're right up next to him. But on the left side it's like he's leering down and leaning into the truck right at you. I actually prefer the left side because it's a more interesting view."